Make sure to mark your calendars for the following events at Roosevelt this week:

Monday, September 24
First PTA meeting of the year! Come to Room 14 at 6:00pm. The PTA will be voting in this year’s PTA officers, going over the budget for enrichment programs for this year and discussing upcoming events. All are welcome to attend and Spanish translation is available. Free childcare is offered in the YMCA room.

Thursday, September 27
Please come and meet with Principal Girardi over a cup of coffee and breakfast snacks at 8:00am in the Parent Room (Room 2). Hear first hand about district and school news, talk about any issues or concerns you may have or just come for the coffee. This is also a great opportunity to meet other Roosevelt parents! This is a very casual meeting so if you can only drop in for a few minutes, you’re still welcome to attend. Spanish translation is available for those that need it. If you have a younger child, you are welcome to bring him/her.

Friday, September 28
Last day to take out any more boxes of chocolate for the World’s Finest Chocolate Fundraiser.

Important Dates…
October 1 – All money from candy sales due!
October 5 – Free Dress Friday
October 6 & 7 – Beautification Days at Roosevelt – Volunteers Needed!

Trivia Question…
How much do you know about the president our school is named after, President Theodore Roosevelt? Which of the following facts are true?

a. He was the youngest president
b. He established America’s national parks, national forests, national monuments and national reserves
c. He won the Nobel Peace Prize
d. Teddy bears were named after Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt
e. Answers b and d
f. All of the above

Make your guess and find out if you’re correct at the bottom!

Last Week for Candy Sales…
Students selling 5 cases will get free dress on every Friday for the rest of the year and they will have a movie/pizza day. (Families with two or more children must sell 8 cases) Students selling 8 cases will qualify for a limo ride to In-N-Out in Mountain View for lunch. (Families with two or more children must sell 12 cases) For a list of all of the prizes, please look at the purple sheet that came home with the order form. If you need additional boxes, please come to the office.

After School Art for grades 3 & 4…
An after school art program is being offered for students in 3rd and 4th grades on Wednesdays from 2:30-3:30. Students will be learn many different art techniques. Registration is limited to 30 students so please turn in the orange flyer that came home in last Thursday’s folder. Classes will begin on 10/3.

Volunteers Needed…
We’re two weeks away from Roosevelt’s Beautification Weekend! Wonderful community sponsors including Peninsula Covenant Church (PCC) and 2nd Mile have planned some wonderful changes for our campus, but they can only happen with the help of our families. We will need at least 200 volunteers on the weekend of October 6 and October 7 to make everything happen. There will be something for every skill level and ability and children are encouraged to help on that day as well. You can sign up to help on either day and for either the 9:00-12:00 slot or the 1:00-5:00 slot. (Please note that the flyer that went home mistakenly listed the first time slot as 8:00-12:00) All students that volunteer will be given a special t-shirt that may be worn as a uniform shirt for the rest of the school year. All volunteers will also receive a t-shirt from 2nd Mile. Please turn in the yellow flyer that came home in last Thursday’s folder and let the organizers know if you will be volunteering and what size shirt your child wears.

Escrip / Safeway Club Card…
If you haven’t already, sign up now! This fundraiser couldn’t be easier! Participating businesses contribute a percentage of your grocery loyalty cards (i.e. Safeway Club Card), credit card, and debit/ATM card purchases to Roosevelt.

Register your Safeway Club Card, debit and credit cards on the eScrip website. Participating merchants will make contributions to Roosevelt based on purchases made by you just by using the cards you have registered. If you registered your Safeway Club Card last year, please note that you have renew it every year. To register or renew your cards and see a list of participating stores, go to the eScrip website at www.escrip.com

On the Parent Blog…
Want to see the view of the Space Shuttle Endeavor passing by Roosevelt last Friday? Thanks to Ms. Smith and Mr. Williams for sending pictures from this once in a lifetime event! I’ve also posted pictures from the 6th graders during their team building event. Thanks to Ms. Shamieh and Ms. Coyle for the pictures and student quotes. If you have anything you would like to see posted on the parent blog, please let us know! rooseveltblog@gmail.com

Bumper Stickers…
If you would like a Roosevelt bumper sticker for your car, they are now available in the school office for $1 each. Show your school pride all over town!

Roosevelt’s Facebook Page…
The district created a Facebook page for every school in the district. Please be sure to “Like” the Roosevelt page to get regular school and district updates in your news feed. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Roosevelt-Elementary-School/214259038634327

Trivia Question Answer…
The correct answer is f. – All of the above! Get ready to learn a little bit about Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th president.

a. In addition to holding elective office as a New York State Assemblyman, Governor of New York, Vice President, and President, he was also a deputy sheriff in the Dakota Territory, Police Commissioner of New York City, U.S. Civil Service Commissioner, Assistant Secretary of the Navy, and Colonel of the Rough Riders, all by the age of 42, at which time he became the youngest man ever to hold the office of President.

b. His specific achievements are numerous. Perhaps his greatest contribution was his work for conservation. During his tenure in the White House from 1901 to 1909, he designated 150 National Forests, the first 51 Federal Bird Reservations, 5 National Parks, the first 18 National Monuments, the first 4 National Game Preserves, and the first 21 Reclamation Projects. Altogether, in the seven-and-one-half years he was in office, he provided federal protection for almost 230 million acres, a land area equivalent to that of all the East coast states from Maine to Florida.

c. He negotiated an end to the Russo-Japanese War and thereby won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1906

d. The name Teddy Bear comes from former United States President Theodore Roosevelt, whose nickname was “Teddy”. The name originated from an incident on a bear hunting trip in Mississippi in November 1902. A suite of Roosevelt’s attendants cornered, clubbed, and tied an American Black Bear to a willow tree after a long exhausting chase with hounds. They called Roosevelt to the site and suggested that he should shoot it. He refused to shoot the bear himself, deeming this unsportsmanlike, but instructed that the bear be killed to put it out of its misery, and it became the topic of a political cartoon by Clifford Berryman in The Washington Post on November 16, 1902. Later issues of that and other Berryman cartoons made the bear smaller and cuter.

Morris Michtom saw the drawing of Roosevelt and the bear cub and was inspired to create a new toy. He created a little stuffed bear cub and put it in his shop window with a sign that read “Teddy’s bear,” after sending a bear to Roosevelt and receiving permission to use his name. The toys were an immediate success and Michtom founded the Ideal Novelty and Toy Co.

To learn more about President Theodore Roosevelt, check out www.theodoreroosevelt.org